I wish the US/state governments would do the same thing. I hate how the green left-turn arrow is the first thing to light at a stoplight. This penalizes efficiency and rewards a behavior that costs us all time and energy.
Why is it like this? The only valid reason I can think of is that turn lanes would tend to back up at most lights in busy cities. I would think correcting this behavior would help reduce the number of vehicles turning, to offset the backup.
You should check out the "Michigan left" which is being increasingly implemented around the country. A Michigan left prevents backup by having people turn right and then do a U-turn further down the road at a designated area.
Thanks for the concept epikur! This is better, but it seems this design would not work on very busy roads. You would never get a chance to cross oncoming traffic due to the volume.
This does seem perfect for most Midwestern highways where space is not really a concern and traffic is relatively light.
They installed one of these a few years ago where I live. Each U-turn area gets its own traffic light in addition to the light at the grade crossing; I don't drive through there often enough to know how the patterns are synchronized for the different lights.
Why is it like this? The only valid reason I can think of is that turn lanes would tend to back up at most lights in busy cities. I would think correcting this behavior would help reduce the number of vehicles turning, to offset the backup.